It Is Not The Gift, But The Thought That Counts (Thoughts Of Insanity)
by alaskanbirdfriend
Summary: Michael has escaped the cage. He has no use for the abomination. AKA: My weird-as-fuck season 13 finale kinda-sorta-prediction. I don't even know what I'm writing anymore.
1. Chapter 1

Sam has his arm around Jack's shoulders, _protecting, covering, guarding,_ and watches Dean, _no, remember, not Dean, Michael, it's Michael,_ fly at Lucifer in an attack.

 _Oh, God, Sam remembers Michael torturing him, he remembers agony, but it was nothing compared to the Devil, Michael is a soldier, he's God's perfect son, he only knows rules and so, while Michael had the talent, he lacked the creativity of his brother._

Dean, _Michael,_ slams Lucifer into the ground, shaking the earth, shaking the church where Sam first let loose the being of his nightmares.

They're both glowing, Michael with righteous fury, _although that paired with a cracked mind isn't the best combination,_ and Lucifer with ice-cold hatred.

 _They've had this battle before, millions upon millions upon millions of times. Sam remembers._

 _He remembers it in so many different recreated vessels, sometimes it's Dean and him, sometimes it's Adam and Nick, sometimes it's John and Him, and sometimes its just bright flashes of grace with a whirlwind of claws and snarling heads._

 _This fight, it's so familiar to Sam that he's having deja vu._

Jack and Sam have backed up against the wall, watching Lucifer get up with blood-red eyes and hurl Michael, _Dean,_ into a wall. They watch with wide, shocked eyes, but only Sam flinches at every move the two archangels make.

 _At any point, one of them could get bored, he remembers, at any point, they decide the fight is useless and then they turn to their only plaything in the hell of a cage (how ironic) and then Sam is back to weeks and weeks of torture until the two brothers bicker once again._

 _He could only pray that they would turn against each other instead of him, but then again, angels hear prayers, and angels don't give you what you want._

Sam blinks, _he's been spacing out too much, lately, he's gotta stop,_ and then he suddenly remembers that Jack's been stabbed, _oh, crap, Jack's been stabbed, by Michael no less. Called Jack an abomination and went straight for the gut._

 _With the damned archangel blade._

Of course, Jack is a nephil, _more powerful than Lucifer,_ and so he doesn't die from the wound, but he is bleeding and he is injured, _and oh, God, Sam can't do anything to help other than stand around and panic while his torturers are fighting right next to him._

And then there's a howl and there's shining grace and Lucifer drops dead to the floor.

 _It's strange how the Devil looks when dead._

 _And Michael is holding the archangel blade._

Sam steps in front of Jack.

 _Sam doesn't care if he dies, only if Jack does. He has to keep Jack safe._

Michael, _Dean,_ walks forward towards them. He sneers.

"Abomination."

 _Who is he talking to?_

 _Jack only thinks of himself, for Sam could never be evil, Sam could never be an abomin-_

"I'm talking to you," Michael snarls. "Sam Winchester. The Boy With The Demon Blood."

Sam flinches backward, nearly bumping into Jack whose eyes are flickering back and forth between the two of them in confusion.

Michael shrugs and smirks, flipping the knife around in his fingers.

 _He is so much more like his brother now._

"Samuel. I'll make this simple. You submit to me," _Sam hates that word._ "And I'll let your precious nephil live."

 _Sam wants to speak back, to talk back, Jack is not just a nephil, he has feelings, thoughts, he is not a_ _ **thing**_ _-_

 _But Sam Winchester is not allowed to speak to Michael unless told to._

So Sam kneels, _one leg bent, arms resting on a knee, head down_.

 _Don't look an archangel in the eye._

Michael grins. _Insane, crazy, crooked,_ Sam thinks.

"Thank you," Michael speaks, tipping his chin towards Sam.

Jack stands there in horror. He'll look back at this day and wonder why he froze. He knows it was not because of Michael.

"And, Samuel, just for that, I'm going to leave you with a gift you are going to _love._ "

 _Sam knows this game. He hates it no less._

 _But he shuts his eyes and plays his role._

Michael taps him on the forehead with two fingers and the world erupts with light.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sam can feel grace covering him, covering his soul, but it is not gentle, not kind, it is smothering him, he can't breathe, he just wants to leave, to run away, let him go, oh, God_ _ **,**_ _please let him go, it's just an endless cycle that he can never escape, it's just burning wrath and fury and Sam just wants peace-_

Sam's eyes flash open and he gasps. He's on the floor of the church, Michael is nowhere to be found, _oh, God, why did Dean have to say yes,_ and Jack is standing next to him, concerned.

Sam sits up, squinting in confusion, looking around. "What," He coughs. "What happened?"

Jack's eyes flicker around the room nervously. He looks back at Sam.

"I don't know, Michael, he just did something to you and then he left…"

Sam moves to get up, then winces as pain ricochets throughout his body.

 _His body hurts, his mind hurts, his_ _ **soul**_ _hurts, like someone yanked it out of his body and molded it to their fashion, and, knowing Michael, that's probably exactly what he did._

But he stumbles to his feet, he's had worse pain than this. _Far worse pain._

"Jack, are you okay?"

Jack is still watching Sam with knitted eyebrows, eyes flickering between Sam's face and chest like something's wrong, _what happened, what did Michael do to him?_ But Jack blinks at the question and nods.

"Yes, the wound healed."

Sam sighs in relief. _Jack is okay. Otherwise, he would have no idea how to heal a nephil._

He turns to where the archangel blade lies, and Jack's still watching him with wary eyes, _like he knows what's going to happen, what the hell is going to happen and what the hell did Michael do,_ and he bends down to pick it up and the blade flies into his hand.

 _Oh no._

 _Please, no._

Sam pales and stumbles back and now he finally realizes why Jack has been acting weird, why he's been staring, _Sam feels something crackling beneath his skin, something powerful, Michael was weaving his grace in and out through Sam's soul, and now he knows what is gone from his bloodstream._

 _The demon blood._

Sam is panicking, freaking out, _it's gone, shouldn't that be good, why the hell does he have his powers back, this shouldn't be possible–_

And then he disappears.


End file.
